About 10 years ago, superhero movies were part of the summer blockbuster season rather than comprising the whole thing. Back in 2008, Tobey Maguire was the lone actor to portray Spider-Man on the big screen.
Maguire suited up as the webslinger and his alias, Peter Parker, for three films: 2002’s “Spider-Man,” 2004’s “Spider-Man 2” and 2007’s “Spider-Man 3.” The series was cancelled following less than stellar reviews and box office performance by the third film.
Sony, the studio behind your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, tried again with a new actor, Andrew Garfield, in 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” and 2014’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.”
Once more Sony’s plans for the franchise eventually fell flat.
Flash forward to July 2019 and it looks as though Peter Parker and his alter-ego finally have a home in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The latest installment in the series is “Spider-Man: Far from Home.”
“Far from Home” is part of a larger story as both the sequel to 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and this year’s “Avengers: Endgame.”
Although “Far from Home” is the seventh live action Spider-Man film released since 2002, it feels like the most complete film of the bunch.
Some of the credit must be given to the MCU, the cinematic sandbox where the superheroes debuted in the early 1960s, for superheroes now being alive and well in a movie theatre near you.
However, more of the credit must go to the film’s cast and crew. Writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers return from “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” Their script allows for plenty of natural comedy and teenage awkwardness for protagonist Peter Parker/Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland) and his classmates.
One of the strengths of “Far from Home” is it feels like a classic coming of age high school comedy. It could almost be a John Hughes movie if there were no supervillains and it was set in Chicago.
Instead, our hero joins his classmates and a pair of unlucky teachers (played by Martin Starr and JB Smoove) on a trip across Europe.
A lot of the movie is spent setting up the act rather than overwhelming the viewer with CGI-saturated fight scenes.
The awkwardness displayed by MJ (Zendaya), Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and Betty Brant (Angourie Rice) at different times through the movie makes their characters authentic.
A side plot involving Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) adds to the emotional side of things.
There is plenty of action in “Far from Home.” After all, the cast is rounded out by Jake Gyllenhaal, Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders. While Jackson and Smulders return to familiar roles as Nick Fury and Maria Hill respectively, Gyllenhaal shines as Mysterio/Quentin Beck.
Writing much more about what these three characters do in “Far from Home” would be pushing into spoiler territory. For those who do see the film, it is recommended to stay through the credits.
Needless to say, “Spider-Man: Far from Home” checks off nearly every box for the summer movie-goer.
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 129 minutes